What Girl Is This
by SashaLikaMusica
Summary: Stacie and Aubrey have been dating for a while, but Stacie's ex-boyfriend Todd just doesn't seem to get it. She goes to explain to him one night, and he attacks her. When she wakes up the next morning, she remembers the one key thing she had forgotten to tell her girlfriend. Staubrey. Possibly continuing. Trigger warning domestic violence. Rated M.
1. In the Beginning

**A/N: So I randomly decided to redo/add to this little fic that I published probably over a year ago. Don't know what made me do it, but I hope that you enjoy it. There will be a third chapter to wrap it up. Review?  
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><p>"Stace. Stacie, you need to wake up." Stacie whimpers in her sleep, the low, gravelly voice sifting through her dreams and morphing into uncomfortable visions. She thrashes in the sheets, her face screwed up in pain. They tangle around her legs, ensnaring her in a tight cocoon from which she cannot escape, which only serves to make her more frantic.<p>

"Stacie, hun, please wake up. We're here. We're all here." A different voice, softer now, more gentle in tone, jolts the nineteen-year-old brunette from her feverish nightmare, sweating. Stupefied, she blinks up at the blaring lights above her as, in the corner, a faceless shadow of a person switches them on. With a yell, she rolls over and buries her face in the pillow. When a gentle hand lands lightly on her shoulder, she flinches away with a cry.

"No! Don't touch me! Don't hurt me again, please! I swear I'll be good, I promise!"

"Stace, girl, it's us. The Bellas." Breathing deeply into her pillowcase, sucking the taste of cotton down onto the back of her tongue, Stacie slowly begins to register the voices of her fellow Bellas. Not quite ready to open her eyes, she takes a moment to devote her senses to identifying her situation. The pillow she's smothering herself with smells like her own shampoo, which is comforting; she's home in her own bed. Surrounding her, she can hear the collective sound of concerned murmurs, quiet breathing, and the shuffling of feet. When she focuses, she finds that she can pick out individual sounds that serve to identify her companions – Jessica's quick, asthmatic breathing; Lily's tiny voice; Chloe's warm, soothing scent.

After taking a minute to collect herself, she rolls onto her back with a sigh, cheeks streaked wetly with tears. Cynthia Rose immediately peers down from the bedside with wide, concerned eyes.

"You okay sho shank?" Amy's voice issues from somewhere in the back of the group. Stacie smiles weakly as the faces of the other Bellas come into sharper focus all around her.

"Yeah. I – I'm fine guys. Just a bad dream." As her eyes travel over the group, she notices that one of their number is missing. "Where's Aubrey?" The other Bellas share a glance.

"Stacie," Beca starts tentatively, after a long moment of silence. Stacie's eyes snap to her instantly and hold her gaze, prompting her to continue. "She's been pretty torn up about this. After she saved you the other night, she just sort of – shut down. You were all covered in bruises, and you looked so sick. She was so scared she was going to lose you." Stacie struggles to swallow down the lump in her throat.

"It was her?" she croaks.

_All she knew was that it hurt. It hurt so much. She had been injured uncountable as a young girl – that time that the front tire of her bike had jammed going down a hill, and she had flipped over; the time she and her cousin had been fighting over the tire swing, and she had fallen out and broken her arm – but she had never experienced physical pain to this degree. Her wrists were burning and her head ached where he had kicked her. Every time she moved, the sharp pain in her ribs went off like a gunshot, reverberating off the walls of her diaphragm. Her back was bruised and her head felt swollen and heavy, and her stomach ached in a way that she knew went far beyond the pain of muscles stretched past their limit._

_She curled in around herself on the floor, attempting to shield her vital organs and the soft, pillowy flesh of her stomach as he landed blow after blow upon her back, her ribs, her shoulders . . . he was going to kill her . . . he was going to kill the baby, and she hadn't even told anybody . . . and then there was yelling, and the impact of a heavy object against pliant flesh; the sound of someone hitting the floor, followed by a soothing, melodic voice and a tender caress to her hair._

_"__Stacie. Stacie, honey, wake up. You're okay; we've got you. He's never going to hurt you again, Stace. I promise. I'll protect you. Stacie, please wake up! Please! I love you! Oh god, I should never have let you come to sort things out with him! This is all my fault! Don't leave me now, please!"_

She's jolted abruptly out of the flashback by Chloe tapping her on the shoulder.

"Stace? You okay? I said should we tell her you're awake?" Without meeting Chloe's glance, Stacie throws off the covers and is out of bed before the others can protest. A loud chorus of objections meets her actions, but she ignores them, looking straight at Fat Amy, the sole person she has confided in.

She has to tell Aubrey about her secret.

"I need to see her." Her voice is hoarse and gravelly with lack of use. Already, standing is painful; her body aches everywhere, and she's pretty sure that her not-quite-mended ribs are straining as she stretches. She quavers on her feet, nearly losing her balance.

"Watch yourself, girl," is Amy's only comment as she moves out of the way. Concerned, Chloe attempts to follow, but the Tasmanian girl blocks the path. "Give her a minute, ginger. She needs to do this one alone." Stacie shoots her a grateful smile, and tosses Chloe a reassuring glance. She doesn't want to make them worry – by the looks of it, they've been concerned enough on her behalf – but this is necessary. She has to tell Aubrey the truth.

With a dismissive wave of her hand toward Cynthia Rose, who has begun to protest, she slips out into the living room, clicking the door shut quietly behind her.

It only takes her a moment in the hazy afternoon light to locate her; Aubrey sits on the couch with her back to the door, head in her hands as her body quivers with sobs.

"Bree?" Aubrey jumps a mile high at the sound of her voice. Quickly, she stands, and when her eyes meet brunette's, she hurries over to her, all else forgotten. The usually calm, collected Bella is a wreck, makeup running down her face, eyes rimmed with red and bloodshot. It looks as though she's been crying for days. Stacie feels a painful tug to her heart.

She hadn't planned on telling her before this all had happened, but with so much desperation visible in the blonde's face, it's going to prove impossible not to.

"Baby," the blonde murmurs, carefully pulling Stacie into a gentle hug. "Thank God. Thank God thank God thank God." When she releases her, her emerald eyes are wide with anxiety as she hovers over her girlfriend worriedly. "Are you okay? Stupid question, of course you're not okay. Are you feeling any better? Can I get you some water, or some food, or anything? Do you want ice? How do you ribs feel? Do you . . ." she trails off at the fresh tears streaking their way down the younger girl's face.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Her tone immediately becomes distraught once more. Stacie lowers her eyes to the floor.

"Aubrey, I . . . I don't know how to . . ."

"Stace, sweetie, what's going on? What do you need?" Stacie raises her gaze to see Aubrey watching her with eyes filled with angst, and swallows. Tears sting at the corners of her eyes.

"I . . . I don't know how to say this to you," she tries again, her voice shaky. "I don't want you to be upset with me, but . . . there isn't really any way for me to tell you other than to just come out and say it." She pauses and draws a deep breath, not wanting to meet Aubrey's eyes, but unwilling to look away if this is the last time she'll be able to look into them without seeing disgust or anger staring back. "I'm pregnant, Bree," she lets out in a rush. Aubrey freezes.

Stacie transfers her gaze to the rug, deadpanning as she explains in a flat tone of voice what happened.

"Right before I broke up with him, Todd and I had sex. I didn't really want to do it, because I knew that I was going to break up with him soon, but he had been really sweet that week, and I felt like I owed it to him to at least do something nice before I broke his heart. That was three months ago. I started feeling sick about a month after I started dating you but I thought it was just the flu. Then it didn't get any better, and I didn't have a fever or anything to go with it, so I started wondering. I told Amy last week, and she made me take the test. It came back as positive." She raises her eyes slowly to meet Aubrey's shocked gaze.

"I was going to tell you, but with all the Todd drama, it just slipped my mind. I know it sounds crazy, but I was scared, Bree. I'm still scared. I'm only nineteen; fuck, I can't even have a legal drink yet. I'm not ready to be a mother, but I don't have a choice. I can't give up on this kid, not when I can remember how my parents gave up on me when I had already been around for a while. I thought about it at first, just for a moment, because I was panicked, but you know me, Bree; I don't like to hurt _anybody_; I couldn't kill a _baby_. It's an innocent child; it's not its fault that things got fucked up. Everyone deserves a chance and fuck it Aubrey you have no reason to give it to me. I know I'm a worthless slut but – " she's interrupted abruptly by Aubrey's lips slamming urgently into her own.

"Shut up. Shut. Up. You are not a worthless slut," Aubrey breathes, pulling back after a moment with stern eyes, kissing her all over her face. "This is not your fault. You are a beautiful, sweet, loving young woman who just so happens to be my girlfriend. My girlfriend, who I would never give up on. Stacie Ann Conrad I swear to god if you're going to have to go through all that pregnancy shit then I'm going through it with you. And I'll be here next to you while you figure out whatever you need to do, whether that's adoption or going ahead and raising this baby. If you decide that you can't take care of it well enough, then I'll help you through that, and if you decide to keep it, then I'll be by your side to help you raise this little one, because I love you, and with Todd in jail and being a total asshole to begin with, I figure this kid needs two proper parents." By the conclusion of her little speech, Aubrey's cheeks are flushed, her eyes flashing bright. Stacie's heart leaps.

"You – you're not going to leave?" she whispers, staring back at her girlfriend in elation, not quite able to believe her ears. "You're really not going to leave?" Aubrey's eyes softens. With a quiet exclamation of dissent, she enfolds the younger woman in the arms. Stacie's eyes flutter closed at the feeling of Aubrey's hands stroking soothingly through her hair.

"Of course I'm not going to leave you, silly. I love you. Now, are you ready to tell the others the good news? Because I'm pretty sure that Chloe will have an aneurysm if she doesn't find out what's going on." Stacie lets out a laugh, snuggling deeper into her girlfriend's embrace, but sobers almost immediately, and presses a light kiss to the side of Aubrey's neck.

"I love you, Bree," she murmurs solemnly, reaching up to tangle her fingers into silky blonde hair. She feels rather than sees Aubrey smile against her cheek.

"Oh, sweetheart, I love you too."


	2. In the Middle

Even after the immediate traumatic aftermath of the situation had been alleviated, Stacie sometimes can't quite understand how she got so lucky. There were doctor's appointments and physical therapy visits, seemingly without end, alongside police interviews and courtroom sessions and interrogations that made her head pound. Fortunately, though, the result is, for the most part, positive; it turns out that the basement game room she had been trapped in had been equipped with video surveillance, and so the entire attack on Stacie had been caught on camera. The police had needed no further proof, and after Todd pleaded guilty to charges of assault and attempted homicide as well as aggravated battery, it took the judge fewer than twenty minutes to sentence the man with twenty-five to thirty years in maximum security.

It isn't that she has any particular desire to see another human suffer – in fact, it's often exactly the opposite – but Stacie can't deny that she feels safer with her attacker securely behind bars. She and Aubrey had stayed up late many times in the days before the trial, debating what course of action they would take if Todd got off without much of a punishment. It wasn't even mostly for her sake, but for her baby's; she doesn't want her child growing up with the threat of its criminal father lurking in the background. If all goes well, her baby will be an adult by the time Todd is released from prison, and by then, hopefully things will be well enough established so that he or she won't be in danger.

With the stress over her immediate safety assuaged, Stacie is free to devote her attention to other critical matters in her life.

Her ribs have been slow to heal, and her strained wrist still pains her on occasion, but the bruises on her back and sides have faded, leaving her with at least no visible reminders of the assault. Initially, she had spent the majority of her days at home, allowing her body time to heal, but in the past few weeks, she has finally felt well enough to return to class. She lightens her course load considerably, keeping only the bare minimum she needs to acquire the necessary number of credits.

As for her support system, Aubrey has been nothing short of wonderful. Stacie managed to swing a single room at the start of the year, but she now found herself in it less and less as time went by; Chloe spends nearly all of her time over at Beca's dorm, which consequently frees up the apartment that she shares with Aubrey. After a time, Stacie only finds herself returning to her room to pick up a book or spare sweatshirt that she's forgotten to transfer over to the apartment. Every day, she wakes to a full meal in bed and an extra hour in the arms of her girlfriend before they both have to rush off to class.

Her belly is beginning to show, a small yet noticeable bump that doesn't yet stretch her jeans but is big enough to pillow her shirt out the slightest bit. Aubrey finds endless opportunities to touch it, whether it's pressing a gentle kiss to the skin or stroking it softly when she holds Stacie close. She talks to the baby too, speaking softly about how loved and wanted it is, and how badly its mommies want to meet it. She sings to it sometimes, late at night, or tells it stories when they're lying together on the couch.

Stacie honestly doesn't know how she got so lucky. Sometimes she worries; it isn't exactly normal to have a baby together after only five months of a relationship, and she isn't sure that it isn't putting too much pressure on Aubrey, or that the blonde isn't just acting out of a feeling of obligation. But then Aubrey does something sweet like bring home a stuffed animal or surprise her by staying up late reading baby books, and she knows she has nothing to worry about.

Chloe even finds time to be a little jealous.

"I've been her best friend for _years_, and I've never gotten half as much attention as the little munchkin already has, and it hasn't even been _born_ yet," she complains one day over muffins in the local coffee shop. "Talk about neglect. She hasn't called me in ages; I'm pretty sure she's forgotten my _name_ . . ." But it isn't meant wholeheartedly; Stacie knows that her fellow Bellas are just as excited as Aubrey about the new addition to their tangled, dysfunctional family. Even Beca, who swears up and down that she's a danger to anyone under the age of forty, can be seen smiling warmly at the pair every time Aubrey cradles her growing belly in public, and had even gone so far as to halfheartedly offer to babysit if, "Chloe dies, Cynthia Rose moves to Vegas, and Ashley disappears off the face of the earth, because I'm pretty sure that nobody else can be trusted with their own life, let alone your precious little bundle of screaming joy."

She's a little scared about giving birth, and about how their lives are going to continue to function afterwards, but honestly, she can't wait for her baby to be a part of this crazy, amazing group of women.

It's somewhere around month six when the baby kicks for the first time, a little late, and Stacie somehow isn't surprised that it happens when Aubrey's hand is on her belly. They feel the hard little jolt at the exact same time, and both let out a surprised cry. Aubrey's eyes are joyful and a little teary, and in all honesty, Stacie feels much the same. It makes complete sense to her after all through together that their baby would want to acknowledge the woman who has done so much for them. She grins as Aubrey pulls her close and urgently devours her mouth, and feels the blonde's lips curve upwards to mimic her as they move.

Every day after that, when Aubrey speaks, the sound of her voice elicits a rapid flutter of kicks, and Stacie feels her heart swell with love.

They've been dating for more than seven months when they fight. It isn't the first time it's happened, but it's the first time since she got pregnant, and funnily enough, it's over baby names. Aubrey is angry because she refuses to believe that it's a boy, and Stacie refuses to believe otherwise. It isn't that either of them want a boy or a girl _more_; they're just stubborn, and stuck in their beliefs, and Aubrey goes for a three-hour walk in the rain before Beca finally drives up and drags her into her car, scolding that Stacie was about to get in the car herself and go looking for her, which immediately snaps the blonde out of it.

She apologizes – they both do – and if Stacie thought she'd seen it all, the makeup sex is something else entirely.

On her twentieth birthday, the girls surprise her with a combination birthday party and baby shower. Lily and Fat Amy's gifts are questionable, and will definitely be laid away for many years until the time comes for them to safely be put to use, and her belly is a little too big by that point for them to properly enjoy Chloe's present, which is inappropriate enough to make even Stacie blush, but surprisingly, it's Beca who outdoes them all with several mixed tapes dedicated to their little family, a warm, custom-made little blanket printed all over with the music to her own mashup of lullabies, and a pair of tiny noise-cancelling headphones for "when the kid decides they're going to be cool like their badass Aunt Beca." It earns the little brunette a hug from everyone in the room, but an extra tight one from Aubrey, who has over time learned to more tolerate the snarky little DJ who once gave her so much trouble.

Stacie's a week and a half short of her due date when her water breaks in early May. Aubrey is in class, a fresh Barden grad student, but a quick call to Chloe, and the blonde is rushing into the room within ten minutes, hospital bag in hand and a tense but genuine smile on her face.

Stacie bites her lips raw through every contraction, squeezing Aubrey's hand so tightly that she's sure she pops some joints out of place, but the older woman never once complains. It's part of their plan, in any case; Stacie has stated repeatedly that under no circumstances is she to be given an epidural. She hates pain, but she hates the thought of drugging their baby more, and Aubrey is more than happy to endure a little agony on their child's behalf.

After seven exhausting, screaming, sweaty hours, it pays off, and Stacie finds herself sobbing in relief and joy as she cradles her tiny, perfect little girl. Maybe Aubrey's preoccupied by meeting their daughter for the very first time, or maybe she just has enough sense not to push it so soon after Stacie's undergone such a stressful ordeal, but she at least has the tact not to say _I told you so_.

(The others aren't so subtle when Aubrey catches Cynthia Rose, Fat Amy, Denise, and Beca reluctantly handing over bills to the smug Chloe, Lily, Ashley, and Jessica later on in the waiting room when she goes to break the news.)

They had discussed throughout the entire pregnancy the fact that of course Aubrey will be their baby's other mother, but it still makes the blonde's heart feel fluttery when she signs the birth certificate in her newborn daughter's presence. She's a mother now; she's a mommy to the perfect, beautiful little girl sleeping in the arms of the love of her life, and it hits her as her fingers grip the handle of the pen that this is something she never thought she'd get. Neither of them did, but Stacie's had significantly more time to process it, and she still can't quite believe that this is all actually real.

When she considers the responsibility that is raising a child, let alone a girl, for whom she already feels an empathetic pain in her chest, it makes her feel smaller and simultaneously more present than she knew was possible. She had accepted early on that love and a family were probably never going to be in the cards for her, and so right now, with a hand cradling the tiny head of her daughter and an arm around the shoulder of the woman she loves more than she thought it was possible to love, she can't quite believe her luck. She considers asking Beca to pinch her, but knows that all she'll earn is a knowing smirk, and settles for pressing a kiss to the top of her girlfriend's head as she looks fondly down at her newborn baby girl.

Louise Christine Conrad-Posen blinks up at mothers sleepily, only hours old, not knowing the extent of the love and wonderful chaos that she will be subject to in her life, but somehow already aware that there is something extraordinarily special about the new world in which she has just arrived.


	3. In the Beginning Again

**A/N: This was supposed to be the last one, but there will be one more chapter as an epilogue, because I'm really enjoying these guys.  
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><p>"Mama! I stubbed my toe!" One hand clutched around a granola bar and the other in her hair, struggling to tie a ponytail, Aubrey hastens out of the library and into the upstairs hallway, where Louise sits on the floor gripping her injured foot. Tears stream down the five-year-old's cheeks and drip off her chin, dampening the collar of her dress. At the sight of the crying child, Aubrey quickly sets down her food down on the hall table and kneels, not bothering to adjust her skirt.<p>

"Oh sweetie, how did it happen? Let me see," she croons, finishing her hair with a deft flick of her wrist and bending over the little girl. "Is it bleeding?"

Louise shakes her head, biting her lip against the tears that threaten to slip into her mouth.

"No, Mama. But I hit it hard; Rats tripped me and I hurt it on the wall," she says crossly, permitting her mother to examine the injured appendage. "Don't touch it." Despite her concern for her daughter's wellbeing, Aubrey can't hold back a smile at the bossy tone of voice. Whether they share blood or not, there has never been any question that Louise is her daughter; it's become increasingly more apparent ever since the little girl learned to speak, and the resemblance grows every day.

"Well thankfully there's no blood, and you didn't break it. It's going to hurt right now, but I bet in an hour you won't even remember that it happened," she consoles. Louise shoots her a disapproving frown that practically screams Posen.

"Mama, that doesn't matter," she points out grouchily. "It hurts now." Aubrey has to bite back a grin; her daughter is so bossy.

"All right then, Little Lady," she declares cheerfully, offering her hands to help the petulant five-year-old to her feet. "Let's go get you a Popsicle to stop it hurting. Mommy says that we're leaving in fifteen minutes; are you ready?" Louise, now balancing on one foot with her arms firmly crossed, rolls her hazel eyes.

"Mama, I was ready hours ago," she sighs. "Are you?" Looking down at her half-buttoned blouse and single sock, Aubrey realizes that she is not, in fact, ready to leave. She lets out a sigh of her own and grabs her granola bar before reaching for Louise's hand.

"No, I'm not," she admits. "But I'll let your Mommy help me out. Let's go get a Popsicle, okay?" Louise's nod is solemn.

"Yes, Mama," she replies seriously, and for a moment, Aubrey wants to tickle her, make a funny face, do anything to ensure that her little girl doesn't grow up with such a stoic outlook on life. She's well aware that she was exactly the same way, but that fact doesn't lessen her vehement opinion that no one should be so serious at such a young age.

When they arrive in the kitchen, Stacie is in the middle of packing a little flowered bag with cheerios, juice boxes, and a number of other snacks. Louise releases Aubrey's hand and immediately marches over to the freezer. As she deliberates between flavors of Popsicles, Stacie finishes packing up and turns to her wife with raised eyebrows.

"I thought we agreed no sugar before lunch?" she questions. Aubrey shrugs; six years ago, she would never have guessed that she would be the less forceful one in a relationship, but Stacie has proved wrong many of the assumptions she used to hold about herself.

"She stubbed her toe; I figured it would help distract her," she defends. Stacie's eyes crinkle in mirth; she crosses the room in three quick strides and tugs at the material of Aubrey's shirt. The blonde begins to splutter out a noise of protest, but one amused look from her younger wife silences her in an instant.

"Your shirt's unbuttoned," she explains, doing up the remaining buttons with a grin. Aubrey has to smile – she never would have thought that anyone she could date would be more responsible than she, but Stacie has proved her wrong on that front as well. The brunette is attentive and vigilant in a way that rivals even Aubrey's anal-retentive compulsiveness. "Louise, it's time to go, sweetie," the woman in question summons. Louise glances up, her Popsicle stick carefully wrapped in paper towels so as to avoid being dripped on.

"To bring my new brother home?" she asks innocently. Her mothers nod.

"That's right, pumpkin," Aubrey confirms. "Do you remember what we told you about today?" Louise nods seriously, her wide eyes solemn.

"Yes, Mama; you said to be very polite to everyone, and that if we can leave early enough, we'll get to go out for lunch." Aubrey and Stacie smile at her affectionately; as she throws her Popsicle away, Stacie takes one of her hands, Aubrey the other.

"That's right. And do you remember what Mommy said about your new brother?" she asks. Louise thinks for a moment before her eyes light up with recognition.

"That he can't hear me if I talk to him," she says.

"Exactly, so we're going to need to be really, really patient with him, just like he'll have to be patient with us until we can learn to use sign language," Stacie says softly. Louise frowns contemplatively.

"But Mama already knows sign language!" she points out. Aubrey smiles.

"Yes, sweetie, but you and Mommy don't know it well yet, so you'll have to practice lots and lots until you can talk to him really well. I'll help you learn, and you've already been practicing, remember?" she reminds her. Louise purses her lips in concentration.

"Yes," she says slowly. "I remember hi and please." As she speaks, she signs the words carefully with her chubby fingers.

"Do you remember how to say thank you?" Aubrey asks her. Louise thinks for a minute, and then slowly moves her fingertips to her lips, and then out and away.

"There you go!" Stacie exclaims proudly, and pulls her in for a quick hug. "See? You'll learn it so fast, you'll barely even notice that you have to work at it." Louise offers her a vague smile, but her eyebrows are knit in concentration, and she's staring off into the distance with a quizzical look on her face. Neither woman says anything, not wanting to pull her mind from whatever path it's going down. After a moment, she turns to look back up at her mothers in confusion.

"Mommy? Mama?" she asks hesitantly.

"Yes sweetie?" both women immediately respond in unison. Louise scrunches up her nose thoughtfully.

"Why . . ." she starts, and then shakes herself a little before approaching the question again from a different angle. "You're both my mommies, but you said that I lived in Mommy's tummy for a while before I met you, right?" Her mothers exchange a look.

"Yes, sweetheart," Aubrey answers slowly with a glance at her wife, not certain where this is going. Louise nods.

"Then where are my new brother's mommies, and why don't we just get another baby from you or Mama?" she finishes tentatively. Both women stiffen uncomfortably. Stacie spares her wife a glance and decides to respond herself.

"Well, sweetie, we were going to, but then Mommy met your new brother while she was working, and since his Mommy couldn't take care of him, we decided that we could be his mommies instead." Louise purses her lips for a long moment before unscrunching her nose and nodding.

"That's nice," she declares after a moment. "I'm glad." Aubrey and Stacie's tense expressions relax into smiles. Stacie offers out her hand to her little daughter.

"Isn't it? We're pretty glad, too," she agrees, leading their daughter out to the car.

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><p>"When will he be here?" Louise whispers loudly, bouncing on the plastic seat in the adoption agent's office. "Is he coming soon?" Gently, Aubrey lays a hand on her daughter's knee, silently telling her to settle down.<p>

"He'll be here in just a moment," Stacie confirms. All of their paperwork was approved earlier in the week, so they've only been waiting for a few minutes, but to a five-year-old mind, they've been sitting here for hours. Elinor, the social worker, looks up from her phone.

"They're bringing him back now," she informs them. Despite themselves, Stacie and Aubrey tense a little, not with dread, but with mingled nervousness and excitement. They've been waiting for this for a long time - longer than they expected, since they had to wait for the insurance from Stacie's new job to kick in before finalizing some of the paperwork, but now that the moment has arrived, they're both feeling a little anxious.

Neither of them have any doubt that they and Louise will love the new addition to their family, or that their son will love them just as much; they know that they'll give him a happy home. It's only that there's a feeling of fear and anticipation that comes with bringing another child into their lives; sometimes they feel irresponsible for even considering that they can manage a life other than their own. It's especially nerve-wracking for Aubrey, who despite her loving wife and daughter has never quite learned to accept good things that she deserves. The idea that love is given freely and isn't something she has to work for never fails to astound her.

When their new son enters the room in the arms of another social worker, she is blown away again by the immediate feeling of love slamming against her body like a train at full speed. She knows him; she's the one who originally took his case, though she transferred when she and Stacie decided that they wanted to adopt him. She was there eleven months ago as his mother gave birth, a fifteen-year-old in a too-tight Dairy Queen uniform and lipgloss from one of those squeeze tubes in a Target princess makeup kit. She was the first to hold him, somehow; the girl hadn't wanted any chance to grow attached, and there had been no one else in the room, so the nurse had handed him to her.

Protesting, shaking her head, she had tried to hand him back, but there were no other arms there to take him. Looking down at him, squirming and red-faced in her arms, her protests had faded to mumbles as she remembered holding Louise moments after her birth, and the same feeling of belonging had swept over her.

It sweeps over her now as he is handed to them again; she and Stacie both stand as he is brought in, and when they take him, they hold him against their chests, between their bodies, standing as close together as they can manage. They coo to him together though they know he can't hear, watching his bright eyes blink up at them as he curls a hand around their hair, blonde and brown merging into a twist of vibrance in his chubby fist.

With her free hand, Stacie signs the word to him. Mommy. Slowly, she motions to both of them. Aubrey joins in: Mama. He giggles brightly, imitates them. Aubrey buries her face in his soft hair to hide her tears; Stacie's hand reaches down to twine around hers.

They part a moment later, feeling a tug on both of their pinkies.

"Mommy, Mama!" Louise complains. "I want to meet him!" Smiling, the two women crouch down, the little boy still nestled securely in Aubrey's arms.

"Sweetie, this is Oliver," Stacie says, slowly signing the words with the baby's eyes on her. "Do you remember how to say 'sister'? If you want to tell him who you are, you can show him that." Slowly, Louise brings up her right hand and holds her thumb beneath her chin for a moment before bringing it down and tapping the back of her left hand with her index finger. Sister. Still giggling, Oliver signs it back.

Louise's face breaks out into a wide grin.

"Mommy, Mama, did you see that!" she exclaims. "He knows!" Stacie and Aubrey smile. Excitedly, Louise repeats the sign to see Oliver imitate her a second time.

"Tell him we're taking him home, sweetheart," Aubrey says softly.

"Home?" asks Louise. Stacie nods.

"Home." Taking a step closer to her little brother, Louise stares right into his bright blue eyes and slowly signs the word. A beaming smile still plastered across his chubby baby cheeks, Oliver follows her every move.

Home.


	4. In Which Louise is the Badass Big Sister

**A/N: Okay, so, I might have lied; this probably _won't _be the last chapter, because it's threatening to turn into a mini ficlet series. **

**Anyway, I hope you like it, and if any of you are over here from Blind Faith, I'm working on the next chapter right now; I've been dealing with life shit for way too long. The upside is that it's now mostly figured out.**

* * *

><p>"Mom, you know we're missing Arrested Development, right?"<p>

"You keep your mouth shut, young lady, until I hear what Mr. Higgins has to say. I don't know what's keeping your mother; she should have been here ten minutes ago. I'm so sorry for the wait, Mr. Higgins," Aubrey apologized. In the chair next to her, Louise sprawled languorously, examining her cuticles with her angular features slack with boredom; a perfect mirror of her mother, who despite over two decades of being urged to relax by her family, still sat with her back as straight as a poker.

"Mom — " With a sharp click of her tongue, Aubrey cut her daughter off. Louise managed to summon enough energy to roll her emerald eyes.

"Really, Mr. Higgins, I don't know what's taking her; maybe the traffic is unusually heavy — "

"Mom, when I drove the car last week, the transmission — "

"What did I say, Louise? — it's probably the traffic lights around the University; they've been down the last couple of weeks, and — "

"Mom, it's the transmi — "

"Louise, what did I just say to you? You wait until your mother gets he — there you are, babe. What took you?" Stacie sweeps into the office with her leather messenger bag over her shoulder and her reading glasses still perched on her nose. She's obviously just come from a lecture class, and even after more than twenty years, Aubrey still has to take a moment to catch her breath, because her wife still manages to be that stunning.

"Hey, you little rascal." After swooping down to land her wife a swift kiss, the tall brunette greets her daughter by rumpling her hair as she glides past and collapses into the empty chair. "Sorry, babe. The transmission in the Honda's been a little wonky recently; we'll have to get it checked out on Monday when we drive down to Bec's." Over Stacie's shoulder, Louise shoots Aubrey a smirk. Stacie huffs out a long breath and places her palms on the desk separating them from the principal. "What'd I miss?"

Despite the fact that he most likely deals with situations akin to theirs daily, Principal Higgins seems to be rendered the slightest bit uncomfortable by the somewhat eclectic family in front of him. Even with the fact that one of them is significantly younger than the other two, all three women radiate a bold aura of frankness and  
>power. Neither Stacie, in her breezy way, nor Louise, with her casual disinterest, nor even Aubrey in her harried manner display a single sign of being easy people to bully.<p>

Accordingly, he speaks quickly so as to get the interaction over with as soon as he can possibly manage.

"I've called you here today because of Louise's behavior," he begins, but has to stop almost immediately to clear his throat. "Though the presence of one of you would suffice, perhaps it's better that you're both here."

"Both of us always come," Stacie interjects promptly, without the slightest bit of hesitation. "Our kids are always the most important thing to us."

"Admirable," appears to be all the man can muster up as a response. "In any case, we're here because I wish to discuss Louise. Your daughter's radical behavior exhibited during the lunch hour — "

"Seriously?" Louise scoffs. "I'm right here."

" — Was erratic and disruptive, and will not be tolerated in this establishment. As punishment — "

"Wait," Stacie interrupts him suddenly. "What did she do?" As Louise huffs out a breath, Aubrey tsks sharply.

"She hit a boy in the middle of the cafeteria," she says pointedly, attempting to meet her daughter's gaze. Louise lets out a quick hah of breath that's almost a laugh.  
>"Don't make it sound so undignified; it was a punch, not a pansy-ass little girl slap," she corrects. A short sound escapes Stacie that could almost be a chuckle. Aubrey's eyes narrow disapprovingly.<p>

Principal Higgins's expression is uninterpretable.

"As I said, to determine the proper course of action, we will need to take into account the manner of the transgression, therefore settling — "

"Hold on a minute!" The words burst from Louise's lips; she's no longer lounging in her chair, but sitting up straight, the glare of her sharp eyes flashing to focus on each of the adults in turn. "Seriously, none of you are going to ask me why I did it?" A small grunt escapes the principal, but it's overcast by the simultaneous queries of the two mothers who have turned to their daughter with suddenly attentive gazes.

"Why did you do it, sweetheart?" Louise's eyes are narrowed hard; she casts an accusing glare at the principal.

"Alfred Murray's had it coming to him," she says coldly. "He's one of those assholes who thinks he rules the universe just because he's a senior. He would have deserved it sooner or later. Anyway, Ollie and I were walking to our table at lunch, and we were talking, and then that dickwad had to yell something rude at us, and when Ollie obviously didn't turn to him, he called him a retard, so I broke his pretty little fuckboy nose." Stacie and Aubrey's expressions are a mix of amusement and anger, the principal's, irritation. Neither women chastise the teenager for her language, instead choosing to focus on the more important aspects of the story.

"What teacher witnessed this?" Aubrey bites out, turning back to face Principal Higgins with her face now lined with anger. Louise coughs out a humorless laugh, her features twisted into something ugly.

"That's the best part — Ms Raleigh, the lunch lady, said that it didn't matter what Alfred had said because Ollie couldn't hear him." Stacie's expression changes to match her daughter's.

"What?" Louise nods, eyes vicious, and suddenly, Principal Higgins finds himself facing three furious women, all of whom stand up abruptly in nearly the same moment.

"Where is Ollie?" Aubrey's voice is calmer than it seems like it should be with the way her jaw is clenched; she addresses her daughter.

"Chemistry, lab five-two-four." With a curt nod, Aubrey catches up her purse, and with a final, disgusted glance tossed in the direction of the principal, she stalks out. Stacie's fingers close over Louise's wrist; standing side-by-side, it's suddenly evident just how much they look alike. Right now, with both of their gazes hard and icy, the picture is more than a little intimidating.

"You'll see Louise and Ollie's un-enrollment forms on your desk by the end of the day," Stacie informs the man cooly. The coldness in her voice is enough to make him visibly flinch. "Don't expect them back tomorrow." With that, she gives Louise's wrist a little tug, and mother and daughter stride out of the office without another word or backward glance.

Halfway down the hall, they catch up to Aubrey, who is emerging from the science classroom with a bewildered-looking Ollie. Seeing the other two members of his family approaching at a swift and determined pace, he quickly shifts his books to the crook of his arm and signs to his older sister: shit, Lou. You screwed? Knowing better than to let loose with the chuckle that desperately wants to break free of her throat, Louise settles for a brief shake of her head.

"No," she responds, signing along with the audible word regardless of the fact that Oliver has been reading lips flawlessly since the age of three. "We're leaving."

For the day? Ollie signs, his puppyish face adorably bemused. Again, Louise shakes her head.

"For good," she answers him, and his expression breaks out in a boyish grin.

Seriously?

"Seriously, little bro. We out." At that, Stacie erupts in laughter. Both children turn to her, confused.

"You've been spending too much time with your Aunt Beca," she explains through her amusement. Beside her, a low chuckle escapes Aubrey.

"I'll say," the blonde confirms. "Jesus, Lou; if you ever end up in Juvie, you're telling the cops it's her fault."

"Really," Stacie agrees. "Seriously, rascal, you sucker-punched a senior?" Louise only shrugs, using the motion to slip an arm over Ollie's shoulder as they walk; for four years younger than she, he's only the slightest bit shorter.

"A dick's a dick," is her only reply, but Ollie catches the grin she shoots him on the sly. "Not that I'd know; right, Ollie-Wolli-Oxen-Free?" She tries to tousle his already mussed blonde mop of curls, but he dodges her just in time, grinning broadly as he signs back to her.

Easy.

"Willing," she counters with an equally mischievous grin, her eyes lighting up a little as pinching his babyish cheeks earns her a squeal.

Slu —

"Okay, that's enough," Aubrey interrupts before he can finish signing the word, sighing as she watches Louise grin wickedly and chase after him as he takes off down the hall. "God, babe; if there was ever any doubt that she's your daughter . . ."

"Eh, she'll turn out all right." Stacie shrugs. "I did, didn't I? She's just needs to mess around until she's gotten it all out of her system; you can't hold back a Conrad any more than you can a Posen. She's a smart kid; she won't screw up too badly. Even I knew when to say when most of the time, and when I didn't, I had you all there to say it for me." Slowly, Aubrey nods in agreement; she knows her wife is right. She even lets out another chuckle watching Louise catch up to Ollie and muss up her baby brother's hair until it resembles a lion's mane.

"We've sure unleashed a terror on the world," she comments in amusement, and Stacie laughs agreeably. They have; pragmatic and confident, laid-back and no-nonsense, Louise is a powerful combination of both her mothers with a quick spark of her own. Ollie, while more mellow, is still equally mischievous.

Yes, Aubrey echoes her own thoughts; they've got two sweet, wonderful kids who manage to be kind even as they terrorize the world with their exuberance. Clearly, they've done something right.


End file.
